PyeongChang Olympics host strives to ease accommodation concerns

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) -- The host of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games is stepping up efforts to ease accommodation concerns to attract more visitors to the sports event, the provincial government said Monday.

The PyeongChang Olympics runs from Feb. 9-25 in several cities in Gangwon Province, but ticket sales have been lagging partly due to difficulties in booking affordable accommodations near the sports venues.

With rooms in brand hotels and resorts already booked by the organizing committee, individual visitors have found it hard to reserve decent places in Pyeongchang, Gangneung and other cities.

PyeongChang will host some skiing and sliding events, while Gangneung, some 20 kilometers east of PyeongChang, will host all ice events. Jeongseon, about 20 kilometers south of PyeongChang, will be home to alpine skiing.

The average prices for cheap accommodations go over 500,000 won (US$460) per night, more than triple the peak season prices, with a pension with a spacious room asking for 1.8 million won per night. Some business owners even refuse to take reservations from individual travelers, while others ask for more than is shown on the official booking system.

In response to rising complaints, the provincial government released a set of measures to increase the number of rooms available during the sports events and encourage local business owners to offer rooms at reasonable prices.

"Excessive room rates would only hurt local tourism," a provincial government official in charge of accommodation policy said. "Business owners will have to set up reasonable rates soon if they do not want to leave their rooms empty during the Olympic period."

The provincial government also plans to operate a call center to link foreigners to local business owners in the run up to the games.

As a high speed train linking between Seoul and Gangneung is set to operate starting from Dec. 22, industry officials expect some travelers may opt for hotels in the capital city and use the train that takes less than two hours to get to major venues.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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